


Flickering Voices

by sebastianathefirst



Series: Fire at the Heart of the World [4]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, mentions Ansem and Kairi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-08 14:26:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5500652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sebastianathefirst/pseuds/sebastianathefirst
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Riku and Mickey encounter a spear wielder, if only a faint memory of her.</p><p>[set during 358/2 Days]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flickering Voices

He watched on as she first struggled to her feet, noting that while her hair was Kairi's, its color was Hono's.

DiZ wanted her. Sora needed her. Kairi? Yes; Hono? That's something Riku ponders on to this day. He bit his lip, feeling a sharp pain, but dared not to think any more.

Xion would later ask of the girl whom she resembled. He would simply answer, "Kairi".

Now he had no memory of Xion, except that the darks of her hair resembled only one other girl's, and that he hadn't seen her in years.

But whether he looked upon Roxas charging up the building towards him, or to Sora as Namine enclosed him in sleep, or from the clocktower with Kairi light and limp in his arms, he continues to hope. He hasn't stopped hoping since he was gripped by the desire to explore other worlds.

She was alive. She was out there. And the child in his heart, whose world became incomplete the moment Hono disappeared from it, hoped that she wanted just as badly to see him, too.

 

* * *

 

 _Ansem,_ it spoke brokenly, voice cracking over the vowels.

Riku's nose wrinkled when he observed that this one was masked, not cloaked. Tensing his shoulders, he closed his palm over the materialized Keyblade. "Who are you?"

 _Release him,_ the figure spoke without considering the query, and swung its weapon, a pole with a fine blade at the end.

Riku felt a ghost of a lurch, momentarily losing his grip on Roxas. He carefully lowered the boy down, "I need him. Sora needs him."

 _Saving him is not my destiny._ Riku had a moment to react in puzzlement before he thrust his Keyblade between himself and it. Even up close, he could see nothing beyond the visor. _But you will hurt my friends no further._

Grunting, he pushed back, and forced the battle away from Roxas. "You're with the Organization?"

He received only a distorted cry of retaliation, and a thrust that nearly tore his cheek open. Yet he sensed no friction in the air, no stinging force against his skin. He stepped slantways, and turned to face his opponent once more.

It did the same, waving the spear above its head. Riku realized for the first time that it kept a fighting stance unlike anything he's seen in battle before. Its torso bent back instead of forward, and it stood almost completely on its toes, keeping its heels of the ground. As he deflected more of its attacks, he also noticed how dramatic its arms and legs extended, and the breadth of their swings.

It looked liked it was dancing.

Organization XIII included the strangest people. And, as the jabs and slashes came at him quicker, equally powerful. Still, they continue to be weightless, as if the enemy was made completely out of air. It was certainly summoned that way.

Riku's brow furrowed. Even Nobodies were made of more substance.

When he finally found his opening, he ran his Keyblade through, only to feel it lock with something else within its body. Whatever was beyond cut it down with far too much ease, and there was no blood as the figure faded away.

Riku thought he could finally see dark eyes behind the mask, only to find that they were Mickey's staring him back. He gave a quick scan of Roxas, before lowering his Keyblade to his side.

Before he could start, Riku knelt to meet him. "Mickey, you should be with DiZ."

Mickey gave one nod. "I'm sorry for making a promise I couldn't keep."

"Did you know him?"

Mickey gave him a look, and for a moment, Riku saw hesitation. "...Once. Ansem destroyed his world, too."

"But he told me to release..." Riku ended in silence, pointing to the boy on the ground. It then occurred to him that perhaps it wasn't Roxas whose release the mysterious opponent had demanded. "Why is he against Sora waking up?"

Mickey shook his head, mirroring his confusion. "Riku, what we saw may not even be real. Ansem cast him into the darkness, long ago. I saw it."

Riku looked at his—Ansem's hands, and very subtly transferred his weight from one leg to the other. He remembered the glint of rage in the king's eyes when they met just earlier, in Twilight Town. "...You protected me at Castle Oblivion. Could this be the same trick?"

Mickey offered a little smile. "I'll look into it. You've gotta take care of Sora."

Riku walked over to Roxas, and pulled his torso off the payment and over his shoulder, taking a second to grudgingly appreciate Ansem's larger build.

"Riku."

"Yeah?"

Mickey watched the fight before interfering. Hono moved exactly as she did then, desperate and reckless with hurt. But this one had her helmet still on, a final barrier to a memory hidden so deep in Riku's heart that he needed to become Ansem to retrieve only a fragment of it.

Despite everything, Riku wasn't ready for the truth. Mickey bore little joy in stunting it. The young boy in Riku's grasp clearly told him what, _who_ else they needed. He approached Riku, keeping his arm from extending on instinct.

 _Save him,_ she said, and Mickey did, each time he could. It surprised him, then, that they became friends, however strange, on their own terms.

"I'll go back with you."

Riku's smile was uncharacteristic on Ansem's face, and they were content.


End file.
